This invention relates to electronic circuits, and more specifically, to power regulation for light emitting diode LED strings.
There is an ever increasing demand for portable electronic devices to operate with increased efficiency and reduced power to accommodate the continuous reduction in size. Many times these devices are battery powered, and it is desirable to utilize as little power as possible to operate these devices so that the battery life is extended. One such example of power conservation in a portable electronic device is the use of light emitting diode (LED) strings instead of fluorescent bulbs for use in illumination of a backlight for a display, such as a monitor for a laptop computer. Typical LED systems draw minimal amounts of current, and thus consume significantly less power. As a result, battery life of the portable electronic device can be increased. In addition, among other advantages, LED systems can be smaller and more environmentally friendly, and can have a faster response with less electro-magnetic interference (EMI) emissions.
An LED may require a constant driving current to provide illumination. Thus, a typical LED string backlight system may include one or more current regulators to maintain a sufficient current flow to provide adequate illumination. As a result, an LED string backlight system may include a regulated supply voltage to provide the current flow-through the LEDs of the LED string backlight system. However, voltage that is provided above the necessary voltage to provide the current through each LED string consumes additional power, and is thus wasted. In addition, different LED strings may draw different quantities of current, and may thus require a different quantity of operating voltage. Furthermore, the brightness of the LED strings is typically controlled by pulsing the current through the LED strings at a given frequency. Therefore, regulating a supply voltage to the LED strings can result in loss of feedback, and thus an output ripple condition that can result in an undesirable audible humming noise based on rapid changes to the electrical charge on one or more output capacitors.